Sadio Mane
Sadio Mané (born 10 April 1992) is a Senegalese international footballer who plays as a forward for Liverpool. Liverpool career Since the departure of Luis Suarez and the injuries to Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool had failed to score the number of goals that was expected of them, with their top scorer in each of those seasons having just thirteen goals. This led Jurgen Klopp to look for more attacking options in the summer of 2016. Originally, it looked as if Mario Götze was to be the club's main attacking signing for the summer, but when a deal had appeared to have been on the cards, the German made clear his desire to instead remain at Bayern Munich. Then, rumours started to develop linking Southampton's Sadio Mané to the club, and it was reported that a bid of around £30,000,000 had been made for the Senegalese attacker. On 27 June 2016, Mané was photographed coming out of a hospital in Liverpool, having had his medical. On 28 June 2016, it was confirmed that Mané had signed for the club for a reported fee of £34,000,000, potentially rising to £36,000,000, although Merseyside correspondents put the deal at £30,000,000. As a result, Mané joined the club as one of their three most expensive signings ever. Mané became the fifth player to move from Southampton to Liverpool in just two years, following Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, and Nathaniel Clyne to Anfield. On the same day, it was confirmed that Mané was to wear the number 19 shirt for the 2016-17 season. On 6 August 2016, Mane started in a friendly against Barcelona and scored his first Liverpool goal with a great finish. The Reds won 4-0. He made his competitive debut on 14 August, scoring an exquisite individual goal in a 4-3 win at Arsenal. Mane picked the ball up on the right wing and burst down it, beating two Arsenal players before cutting inside and curling it into the top left corner. Mane missed the next game against Burnley due to a shoulder injury, and his influence was certainly missed as the Reds fell to a 2-0 defeat at Turf Moor. On 23 August 2016 however he did return in a League Cup clash against Burton Albion, and picked up two assists, one for Divock Origi and the other for Daniel Sturridge. Despite not being at the club long, Mane quickly became a very important player in Jurgen Klopp's side, and there was a lot of panic from supporters once Mane was rumoured to have picked up an injury in the international break. Fortunately, there was no problem, and Mane started in the 4-1 win over Leicester. The Senegalese winger scored Liverpool's second of the game, dinking the ball over Kasper Schmiechel after Daniel Sturridge wonderfully backheeled it into his path. Mane also assisted Roberto Firmino for the Reds fourth goal, rounding the keeper and unselfishly squaring it for the Brazilian to convert. Mane scored again two weeks later, with a great strike from the edge of the box in a 5-1 win over Hull City. Honours Individual *Standard Chartered Player of the Month: 1 (August 2016) Stats Category:Current Players Category:Forwards